Scottish indie band Teenage Fanclub has been together for more than 35 years now, with a few lineup changes along the way, and have just released their 13th album. It’s called Do Not Dare to Dream and it’s out now via the venerable indie label Merge Records. I’ve listened to the album a number of times to write this review and the one song I keep hanging onto is “Over and Over.”
“Over and Over” is an interesting song. It begins with a gentle vocal harmony, a bit reminiscent of 1960s Bee-Gees. Less than a minute into the song, a funky drum kicks into gear, but those vocals, they remain subdued and a bit melancholy. By the chorus, the guitar picks up a Johnny Marr quality, like The Smiths’ take on ‘60s pop in songs like “Unloveable.” All this leads to a Can-like, psychedelic outro that goes on for close to a minute. It’s a lot to pack into a song and Teenage Fanclub does it well and it’s a testament to the band’s eclecticism.
I still have my cassette copy of Bandwagonesque somewhere. IDK how well it would play these days, though, since I listened to that Teenage Fanclub album on a near-daily basis in high school. It was part of the rotation of cassettes that I had in my school bag, just in case there was a boombox or car stereo nearby and someone was open to listening to something other than Nevermind or The Black Album. Bandwagonesque was an interesting album because it was critically acclaimed in its time and did spawn songs that were played on KROQ and MTV with some regularity, but it was still kind of a culty thing. What I learned then was that, even the people who were, like, so into music had no idea who Teenage Fanclub were. That was true about most bands and most music in the 1990s, just as it’s true today. People were siloed into algorithms of their own making long before social media was a thing, it’s just more obvious now and, I’m certain, more frustrating for those of us who are actually curious about new music.
But, I digress. The whole point is that, back then, Teenage Fanclub were amongst the bands who ushered in the noisy power pop sound- a little Pixies, a little Big Star – that would help define 1990s indie rock. But, they also branched out pretty quickly, bringing a good dose of psychedelia and even a little country rock into the mix on subsequent albums. All of those facets of the band intertwine on Do Not Dare to Dream. “I Do Not Dare to Dream” leans into the country rock influences. Psychedelic sounds abound throughout, but the hippie flute on “Take Time” steps it up a notch. Even remnants of their noisier past seep into the album on “The Same Air.”
If there’s a thread that connects all of Teenage Fanclub’s work, it’s that power pop commitment to earworms. I was reminded of that when I woke up with “Day in the Sun” stuck in my head on multiple occasions between first listening to the album and writing this review. That this new Teenage Fanclub song almost immediately led me to recall the lyrics of “The Concept,” released some 35 years ago, is, I think, a good indicator that the band has always been, and continues to be, really good at writing at sticky song.
Do Not Dare to Dream by Teenage Fanclub is out now.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Follow on Instagram or sign up for the weekly, Beatique newsletter for updates on new stories and gigs.
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